The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly to electrical connectors having ground contact modules.
It is common, in the electronics industry, to use right angled connectors for electrical connection between two circuit boards or between a circuit board and another electrical component. At least some right angle connectors include a plurality of contact modules that are received in a housing. Each contact module typically includes a plurality of electrical mating contacts on a mating edge of the contact module and a plurality of electrical mounting contacts on a mounting edge of the contact module for electrically connecting the circuit boards or the circuit board and the other electrical component.
Various configurations of connectors are known. For example, some connectors have contact modules that have both signal and ground contact leads extending between the mating contacts and the mounting contacts of the contact modules. Other known connectors have signal contact modules that have only signal leads and ground contact modules that have only ground leads. The leadframes, and thus the leads, of both the signal contact modules and the ground contact modules are formed identically. However, the circuit board(s) and the electrical component only send signals through the leads of the signal contact modules. In these known connectors, the ground contact modules are placed between a pair of the signal contact modules to provide shielding between adjacent pairs of the leads of the signal contact modules. However, due to increases in data transfer speed through the connectors, the connectors have problems with electrical performance, such as crosstalk between adjacent signal pairs of adjacent signal contact modules. There is a need for a connector that provides adequate shielding and/or isolation between signal pairs. There is a need for a connector that may be manufactured at a reasonable cost.